Travelport Enters Sports, Adventure Tourism

Bhisham Mansukhani - Mumbai

Tour operation franchisee, Travelport Holidays, has now diversified into sports and adventure tourism with its golf and Maharashtra packages.

CEO K Venkatesh Rao believes the diversification into these fields will add value to the service it provides. "Both packages reflect specialisation that a lot of travel agents are opting for. Special interest tourism is an indication that the Indian tourist has come of age so the packaging has to be equally sophisticated. We have therefore tied up with specialists to offer packages, complimented by conventional tourism."

The golf packages include South East Asian and Asia Pacific destinations launched in association with Singapore-based sports marketing company Dream Team. They feature inbound and outbound tours for aspiring and amateur golfers that combine excursions to 18-hole courses where tourists can interact with golf stalwarts while on vacation. These packages incorporate leisure as well as training packages for beginners and intermediates and vary from two to six days.

Travelport has also launched ‘Lesser Known Spots’ in association with Maitreya Group of Resorts, designed by travel connoisseur and actor Milind Gunaji. This comprises three packages and covers attractions like Biliya Dongar, Dabosa, Kelve Beach, Shivneri, Malshej Ghat, Naneghat and Rajmachi. "Many of these destinations do not have accommodation infrastructure but that has not deterred us," Venkatesh said.

Mumbai-based Travelport is also planning to launch cricket and tennis-based packages. The travel service provider, which has a network of 50 offices of which 42 are franchisees, has a website and call centres across the country with a focus on tertiary cities. It caters directly to individual as well as corporate travellers and deals with the travel trade on a wholesale and retail platform.